Last year the NI Events Company’s former chief executive, Janice McAleese, was banned from acting as a company director for 14 years.

Her conduct had been heavily criticised in a report issued by the Northern Ireland Audit Office in September last year.

The Audit Office probe was also scathing in its assessment of oversight from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) for a body formed in 1997 to support major sports and music events.

It identified failures in the risk management process and in dealing with a whistleblower’s complaints.

Lawyers for some of those who sat on the NI Events Company’s board previously claimed they were being made scapegoats to deflect attention from civil servants who failed to provide proper scrutiny.

But alternative resolutions to disqualification orders were reached after all but one of the respondents signaled a willingness to give pledges not to accept further directorship roles for agreed periods of time.

Based on his role as NI Events Company chairman, the department accepted Mr Elder’s nine-year undertaking.

Five year periods offered by Mr Rodgers, Mr Clarke, Mr White, Ms Corr and Mr Haslett have also been confirmed.

Counsel for the department, Michael Humphreys QC, indicated that agreements in principle have been reached with Mr Lennon, Mr Clarke, Mr McWilliams and Ms Williamson.

They are expected to be confirmed at a further court hearing next month.

At that stage Mr Lennon, the chief executive of tourism marketing body Visit Belfast, and Mr White, who runs polling company LucidTalk, are set to seek leave to continue to act in those enterprises.

The court heard Mr Perry was notified about the proceedings but has never appeared.

Imposing an eight-year ban on him, Master Bell said: “That is an appropriate period of disqualification based on the evidence currently before me.”